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NOTE: This is a continuation of the initial roleplay thread. All characters are still accounted for. Information will be updated accordingly, and any questions can be asked through Discord for quicker feedback. Thanks!

A FEW WEEKS LATERSeptember 5th, 2020

- Levi -

"Levi Durov."

I blinked myself awake, staring at the darkness that weighed down around me. I hadn't really been asleep; in fact, I don't think I've slept since last week. I pulled my PDA to my mouth, knowing that Valkov was the one who had contacted me. "I'm here," I told him, my tone lackluster.

He paused before speaking again. "So you know, then."

So you know, then. God damnit, I wish I didn't. "Yeah. My dad enjoys exploiting information that strikes fear and misery into the ESO," I replied coldly. "He capitalizes on pain and failure."

"How're you holding up?"

I scoffed at my squad leader's question. "Why are you asking me that? You were his student. I barely knew him. I wasn't even in his squad or anythi–"

"I'm asking because it's a lot, especially after what happened to Marcel."

"Marcel is different."

Valkov fell silent again. He was brave for putting his students before himself; however, I could tell that Degray's death affected him greatly. It's only been a week since ESO officials arrived at Evergreen and delivered the news. I know it's been miserable for those who knew him well. Frankly, his death didn't bother me for arbitrary reasons. . .Sure, he was an impeccable soldier and great teacher, but I wasn't mourning him. I was moreso petrified by the potential deaths the future held.

I continued to speak. "I'm your friend, Valkov. Not just your student."

". . .Thank you, Levi."

In that moment, there was an unspoken agreement to try and get some sleep. As soon as the screen of my PDA read "TRANSMISSION ENDED," I folded my hands on my stomach and stared at my dorm's ceiling through the darkness, hoping sleep would eventually come to me.

_________________

"And though we miss the little girl,You've made us awful proudFunny how our lives change,'Cause you're our hero now."

It was late and I knew I should be sleeping but my mind was racing. Ever since we left Japan I couldn't sleep well no matter what I tried. Maybe it was the neee ending nightmares of my father and the battle or the fact my squad leader was now dead. Sure I hadn't known him for long but...it still stung a little knowing a great man was gone. Or it could have been the man that ran into me as I went to the store in Japan.

"He knows you're here." What the hell did that even mean? Even though it was so cryptic, and would probably end up as some dudes crazy ramblings, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was up.

The biggest problem I finally decided was that I was too lonely in my room.

Taking out my pda I swiped to Arthur's contact and typed a quick message, "Hey babe, are you awake?"

~Marie~

I hummed quietly to myself, sitting in front of the mirror and brushing my hair out. As I let the golden strands hang in loose waves over my shoulders I couldn't help but notice a difference in myself. Not one I could see, no. I was still so small and frail but I could tell something had changed in me these past few weeks. I wondered what else could change the longer I was here.

~Anzeti~

With a sigh I swung my feet back into the window, turning on the sill and hoping off of it into my room. Turning back around I took one more glance at the sky and shut the glass panes. Over the past few weeks I had grown more accustomed to the many technologies and contraptions that had taken over but every now and then it was nice to enjoy nature as I would back home. Oh how I missed the desert, but I had a greater purpose here than I ever did there. I would have to learn to live with this culture if I wanted to fulfill my destiny.

~Jojo~

"Oh my look how late it is, you must go to bed my dear," Mom said through the phone, causing me to giggle.

"You were the ones talking the whole time," I teased and received a laugh from mom and dad on the other side, "But ok. Goodnight Uwar, Ubar. Ina son ku!"

"Muna son ku ma, Jojo," they said before ending the call. I sighed happily as I finally got under the covers, glad to finally get some rest.

_________________

You know what the issue is with this world?Everyone wants a magical solution to their problems, and everyone refuses to believe in magic.-Alice in Wonderland-

A yawn escaped me as my mother's voice came at me from the other end of the room through my PDA.

"Your father's campaign is going remarkably well. Even in the swing states, he's polling extremely ahead of Reinheart. We expect an easy victory and transition," Madeline Foster explained with little excitment. The campaign had drained her just as much as it had her husband.

"That's wonderful news mom," I said with another vigarious yawn. "You should get back to it. Love you all. Give bad by best wishes."

(This takes place a few weeks before the timeskip. Italicized parts were parts that were in the last RP thread; I just have these posts in one place since they're all part of one huge thing, and would be best put together.)

- Mallory -

A sigh of contentment passes through my lips as I slip on the dark green silk robe and tie the sash around my waist. It's too thin to be of warmth, and the sleeves are too short to completely cover my arms. It is a sheer luxury item. But I do oh so love my luxury items.

I smile, and make my way over to my dresser, where a delicate teapot and teacups stand laden on a silver tray. In that teapot is a steaming concoction of herbal tea. I flip my hair over my shoulder, and stir the tea with a slender, silver spoon as the concerto from my phone plays.

Not even a knock at the door is enough to jar me from my contentment. "Come in," I call.

Harriet enters the room a moment later, her eyes darting about and her smile timid. That girl's like a wilting flower. Pretty, and nice, but there's hardly any real backbone to her.

"H-Hey, Mallory." She closes the door, and looks around the room. "Is your roommate here?"

"Not at the moment, no." I set the spoon aside. "Though, if you wished to talk to her, she -- "

I sense it coming one second before it happens.

Harriet's hand is darting to her side at the exact same moment that I'm go for it. I whirl around, snatch my rifle from it's place against the wall, and cock it and hold it at position and turn and --

Harriet has her handgun pointed at me, just as I have my rifle pointed at her.

"Are you seriously doing this?" Even with her rifle aimed at my forehead, my voice doesn't waver, and I don't lower my gun one bit. "I know who you are. I know what you did. And I know now where your true allegiances lie."

"Listen to yourself, Harriet," Mallory said, her eyes wide like she can't quite believe what I'm saying. Reluctantly, she takes one of her hands off of her rifle and holds it out in a placating gesture. "Look. I don't know what happened. I don't know what's making you think I've done anything. Has SRSIA done something to you? I know they brainwashed Madi at one point, maybe they did something similar to you while you were in captivity, maybe that's why you're not acting like yourself -- "

"Oh, give me a break," I snap. "That one time, when you said you knew what it was like to lose a parent. You were lying. Your parents are still alive. Why would you say that? Why would you want Travis and I to go out there so badly? Huh?"

"You seemed worried about your mother. I'm really sorry that helped the SRSIA find you, but you were so worried about your mom that I felt the best thing to do would be to support you -- "

"You were there," I say. "You were there, close to Madi, when her conditioning was activated."

Mallory opens her mouth again, but my grip around my gun hardens.

"Don't," I say again. "Don't insult my intelligence."

Mallory is deathly quiet.

She licks her lips. Like she's contemplating what to do next.

And then, she smiles.

"Tell me," she says. "How do you expect to confront a potential SRSIA spy in their own room, announce you think they're a spy, and expect to get out alive?"

A chill crawls down my spine. She really is a SRSIA agent . . .

Somewhere, deep inside, I'd hoped that she'd convince me that she really wasn't an enemy. I'd hoped that my accusations were baseless, and that she was an innocent ESO agent.

But I guess it's better to know the truth than to believe in comforting lies.

"You shoot me, and everyone will know what you are," I say.

"Will they? I mean, the SRSIA brainwashed Madi. Who's to say they couldn't do that to poor little Harriet Underwood, too? She spent a bit of time under SRSIA custody, after all, and they did let her out early . . . "

She trains my gun on my hand the second she sees it darting toward my communicator.

"Nuh-uh-uh," she says. "Wanting to relay what I'm saying to someone else? I'll admit it's a good trick. A clever trick. But you forget -- I outmatch you. And you have people you love that I can hold against you. How's Travis's eye been doing lately?"

"You shut up," I snap. "I'm not the only one who has a brother here -- "

"Julian's not my brother," she says with a ferocity so surprising that I actually take a step back.

Mallory takes a moment to recompose herself. Then she continues. "That moment when I said I knew what it felt like to lose a parent? That wasn't a lie. In fact, that was probably the only moment I was telling the truth."

She laughs, and that laugh is the bitterest thing I've ever heard.

"My name," she says slowly, "is not Mallory Everhart. I do not belong to an ESO family. I was born to SRSIA. But two ESO agents kidnapped me, thought they could take an agent from SRSIA's ranks and place me among the ESO's. But blood calls to blood. My family found me, and the ones I called my parents? They lied to me. My whole life, they lied to me!"

"Just as you lied to us?" I say.

Mallory -- if that's her real name -- just smiles. "I have. But at least I'm not being self-righteous about it."

And then --

It happens so fast.

Mallory rushes toward me, and I curl my finger around the trigger just as Mallory tosses her rifle aside, and I don't even have time to scream, yell, do anything as Mallory seizes my hands, her fingers placed over mine on the trigger of the handgun, and then she --

And then she shoots herself.

~ ~ ~

The bullet punctures her stomach.

Mallory gurgles on her own blood, a drop of which splatters on my face. She lets go, leaving the gun in my hands, and collapses.

"Oh my god," I breathe, my mind freezing. What do I do? Call for help?

I settle on that. Calling for help. She might be a SRSIA agent, but I can't just leave her to die. I reach for my radio --

"MALLORY!"

The door practically detonates. In rushes Julian, who looks around for one crazed second before fnding Mallory on the ground. He skids to her side.

"Mallory, oh my god, no, Mallory!" In his panic, he touches her side, which Mallory responds with a hiss of pain. He yanks his hands away, and they come back sticky with blood. "Mallory, what -- "

He stops when Mallory, slowly, gasping for breath, lifts a shaking finger.

She points it at me.

Too late, I realize that I still have the gun in my hands.

Julian, here, seeing me with a gun while Mallory's injured . . .

I drop the gun when I realize just how bad this looks.

"Julian . . . " I say. Can I reason with him? Will he believe me? He can't believe that I have the type of personality to do this, right?

But he just looks at me. Looks at me like he doesn't even know me.

"Why?" he says.

"Sh-She, she shot . . . " Mallory coughs, causing her to double over, and she moans at the pain that causes. "She shot . . . I think the SRSIA brainwashed her. She's a traitor."

"She's lying!" But it's useless. To Julian, Mallory is family. He'll be a lot more inclined to believe his wounded sister than a random Evergreen student holding a gun. "Julian, you have to bel-"

The noise that rips from Mallory's throat is one of utter anguish.

She reaches, blindly, for Julian's hand. Julian's quick to lock his hand in hers and stroke the back of her head, telling her that it'll be okay, she'll be okay, everything will be okay.

His other hand, in the meantime, goes for his radio.

"This is Forté, calling in," Julian says. "Mal- Requiem has been shot, I repeat, Requiem has been shot . . . and by Aquaheart. Urgent medical attention is needed, immediately!"

"Ju-" I mean to say his name, but when Mallory opens her eyes, I stop.

In the moment that Julian's not looking at her, she narrows her eyes at me. And through the immense pain she's in, I see triumph, as well as a promise.

Even if I manage to convince everyone that I didn't shoot Mallory, that I wasn't brainwashed by SRSIA . . .

"How's Travis's eye doing?" she'd asked.

She'll hurt him if I stay.

If I leave, he may be in danger anyways. But maybe he won't be, if Mallory wants to lie low, not draw any attention to herself. On the other hand, if I expose her, she won't care. If her cover's blown anyways, then she'll have free reign to harm him. She's done it once. I don't doubt her ability to do it again.

No matter what I do, she'll win. At least, this way, I minimize any risk to my brother.

My lower lip curls inward.

Travis.

I'm sorry.

I hope you'll understand.

I pick up the gun from off the ground, and start running.

Behind me, Julian protests, but I'm already making my way to the window. I shoot at the glass three times, shattering it, and giving myself just enough of an opening to leap through it . . .

- Naďa - I rub one cold hand over the other, staring at the glaze of a mirror. The glass reflected a girl sitting in a wheelchair, a thin, empty girl. Her expression was unreadable; tiny red scabs dotted her skin like the thousands of freckles already there; stringy hair draped loose around her head.

She stared back at me.

She starts to cry, so do I.

I want to ask the girl in the mirror why she’s crying, but I already know why. Because. . . we’re the same. We both sob.

What have I become? I used to be strong. I was looked up to and respected. Now i’m dirt! I’m nothing!

I’ll never get any of that back. I’ve rotted. Now, I depend on someone else to do everything for me. Me, the girl who vowed to protect everyone, now needs help getting out of bed in the morning.

Visions and rewinds of Marcel’s death cause me to shake, and my hand ghosts up my arm. I pick at the skin with my pointer finger and try to subdue the streaming tears.

Why? Whywhywhywhywhywhy? I never wanted this. This shouldn’t have happened. It should have been ME. I should’ve had my face shot off. Marcel deserved to live. I don’t.

Evergreen won’t let me die. I’ve tried so many times, so many different ways, but i’m always stopped. They’ve taken everything sharp away from me. I’m not allowed to do my own laundry anymore, or take a bath on my own. They’re taking every possible precaution.

My skin begins to bleed from where I was prodding and scratching it. I wipe the blood with my sleeve and close my eyes. They can’t confiscate my hands.

The only person i’ll miss is Adir. The boy who cares way too much for me, the boy who’s in love with me. I’ll miss him. He’ll miss me too. He dedicates too much time to me, and I’m just a burden. He hasn’t told me that he likes me, but i’m almost certain. I don’t know what I’d say if he did. I’m not sure why he thinks of me that way. I’m a disgusting mess, who can’t even kill herself.

Without making a noise, I turn on the television. It’s flooded by the worst people I know of, spreading disgusting news and gossiping all day. I turn it off fast and look to the ceiling mindlessly. This is what my life has become.

Over the years, Arthur had befomes accustomed to sleeping light. His brothers had an unsatiable desire to mess with him as he slept, ranging from stealing blankets to hacking into his phone and sending obscene photos or horrific messages to his contacts, and Arthur, finding no assistance from his parents ("Boys will be boys" as his father said), began taking matter into his own hands.

So when his PDA buzzed next to his head on the pillow, it took him only a few moments to awake and grab it. He squinted against the harsh light of the screen:

[FORSAKEN] Hey babe, you awake?

Despite his annoyance at being woken, Arthur let it slide, as the message was from Kdin, and he didn't deserve any of the Brit's wrath. Reminding himself of that, he replied.

[GENTLEMEN] I am now, dear. How can I assist?

~~~~~~~~~~

OBSERVATION LOG

September 5th, 2020

DAY 3 SINCE FARGO VANISHED.STUDENTS AND FACULTY STILL SHOW NO SIGNS OF NOTICING.

Sophia tossed and turned in bed, unable to get to sleep.Ugh... I liked Japan so much better. The bed was softer, the hotel was nice, the stores were amazing... stupid higher-ups wouldn't let me bring back all that manga I bought.

...I could use a snack.She sat up in bed, her hair disheveled.I haven't seen that Ran Moo in a few days. Maybe he's finally ready to sleep with me??

_________________

"If you think voicing such an opinion here and now was a wise move...""...then maybe you should reevaluate your definition of stupidity." Thank you Fix-it for the amazing signature!Also, thank you so much ~Hermione~ for last year's awesome Marcel signature!